1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to the field of shipping containers, drums and the like, and is particularly directed toward providing a method and an apparatus for securing a draw band to a drum in a tamper proof manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
A common drum used for the shipping and storage of various liquid and powered material such as soft drink ingredients, fruit juice ingredients, chemicals, and the like includes a hollow cylindrical body having one closed end and an open mouth at the other end for being selectively closed by a lid or the like using a draw band that can be tightened around the circumference of the lid and edge of the open mouth of the drum body to secure the lid over the mouth and thereby prevent unauthorized access to the interior of the drum body, etc. The drum body may be metal and a plastic liner may be used within the metal body.
Heretofore, bolts and nuts of common use and standard design and manufacture have been used to tighten draw bands or rings placed around the edge of the drum mouth and over the outer edge of the drum lid to draw tight, seal and close the lid on drums of various sizes. Such standard bolts and nuts have commonly been the only securing, drawing, and tightening means used when attaching such draw bands to drums, with the bolt shafts passing through lugs welded onto the ends of the draw bands.
A common problem with such drums has been a lack of security for restraining unauthorized agents from simply unthreading the common bolt and nut fixed in a draw band, and from stealing, contaminating or adulterating the contents of the drum. Product liability exposure through accidental spillage, or potential for blackmail through adulteration or threatened spillage, is a grave concern for packagers of certain products. Some limited attempts have been made by draw band and drum manufacturers to secure the bolt and nut with wire tags or seals similar to those used by many public utility companies to secure utility meters and the like. None of the known attempts have achieved a fool-proof means in any practical or economical manner.
Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,834, issued Mar. 21, 1989, discloses a fastening system including a two piece swage type fastener including a pin and a collar adapted to be swaged into circumferentially extending lock grooves in the pin and with the collar having a radially inwardly extending flexible tab located at one end and being engageable with the lock grooves for pre-assembling the work pieces to be secured prior to swaging. Each of the lock grooves has a first flank or side that is at a 70 degree angle to the center line or longitudinal axis of the shaft of the pin and has a second flank or side that is at a 35 degree angle to the center line or longitudinal axis of the shaft of the pin.
Taubert, U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,555, issued Apr. 17, 1990, discloses a joining element for two machine parts. The joining element includes a fastener or screw shank having a head. A plurality of parallel, concentric fit-stretch rings are provided adjacent the head. The external diameter of the fit-stretch rings are 0.1 to 0.5 millimeters larger than the external diameter of the fastening thread. Each of the fit-stretch rings are shown as having a first or leading flank or side and a second or following flank or side that are both at approximately 75 degree angles to the center line or longitudinal axis of the shaft of the screw shank.
Warmington, U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,777, issued Feb. 26, 1991, discloses a self-retaining collar for a pin of a two-piece fastener having a projection or detent from its inner surface for engaging locking grooves of the pin. The pin has a head and a shank, the locking grooves being formed on the shank. The fastener holds two or more work pieces together in tension by inserting the pin through the work pieces until the head contacts one side of the work pieces and the locking grooves extend through the other side. The shank has pulling grooves located on the end opposite the head. Once the pin is through the work pieces, the collar is slid over the shank until the detent engages the lands of one of the locking grooves. The collar is then swaged into the locking grooves while the work pieces are placed in tension by pulling on the pulling grooves of the pin. The locking grooves are V-shaped in cross-section (see FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 of the Warmington patent) and resemble a standard American National thread, having first or leading flanks or sides and second or following flanks or sides that are at approximately 60 degree angles to the center line or longitudinal axis of the shaft of the pin shank.
Nothing in the known prior art discloses or suggests the present invention. More specifically, nothing in the known prior art discloses or suggests a method or an apparatus for securing a draw band to a drum in a tamper proof manner including inserting the shaft of a bolt means having a threaded portion and a lettered portion through the aperture in a first lug of a draw band and through a aperture in a second lug of the draw band after a lid has been placed over the open mouth of the body of a drum and the draw band has been placed over the outer edge of the lid and the lip of the open mouth of the body of the drum; sliding a sleeve means over the shaft of the bolt means until the body of the sleeve means contacts the edge of the second lug of the draw band; screwing a nut onto the threaded portion of the shaft of the bolt means, ultimately causing the first and second lugs of the draw band to be pulled or drawn toward one another; and crimping the sleeve means to the fettered portion of the shaft of the bolt means for preventing undetected subsequent separation of the first and second lugs of the draw band.